


all wrapped up

by bugheadtrash



Category: Archie Comics & Related Fandoms, Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: ... and she is, Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Falling In Love, First Kiss, First Meetings, Fluff, Jughead finds Betty adorable, Jughead is new to LA, Meet-Cute, New Year's Eve, New Year's Kiss, References to Friends (TV), Strangers to Lovers, Waitress!Betty, Writer!Jughead, gift wrapping, jealous!Jughead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:36:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22035682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bugheadtrash/pseuds/bugheadtrash
Summary: Jughead is lucky enough to meet Betty Cooper, a 22-year-old waitress who lives in Los Angeles, on his first day to the city.He finds her amazing and she thinks he's adorably awkward.Aren't they meant to be with each other?
Relationships: Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Comments: 27
Kudos: 93
Collections: 6th Bughead Fanfiction Awards - Nominees, Bughead Secret Santa





	1. bonding

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bettsc](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bettsc/gifts).



> heyyyyy!  
> welcome to another short story of mine.  
> this is a gift for @bettsc from your secret santa (a.k.a me!) , which was originally supposed to be posted tomorrow, but I decided to split it up in two parts.  
> I hope you enjoy it as much as I did while I was writing it!

‘’One café latte and a turkey sandwich are ready,’’ Betty yelled, tiredness evident in her voice. The coffee shop she has been working to for the last six months was being crowded for once again, welcoming many people who either stayed there to enjoy their drink or they chose to grab a takeaway coffee. 

  
These past few tiring months, she had learned most of the regular customers. Amanda, a thirty-year-old single mother, who visited _‘’Coffee Express’’_ before work every day to enjoy her hot chocolate and a piece of apple pie. John, a teenager with a great sense of humour and little interest in school, which he usually skipped and instead stayed at the shop a little longer than necessary. Her favourite customer _(slash friend)_ , though, was Toni. Their first meeting was eventful to say the least, since Betty had managed to spill two full cups of coffee on her. She was expecting a massive fight and even a demand for Betty to be fired, but all Toni did was smile at her and ressure her that everything was fine. She later found out, when the pink haired girl was comforting a crying Betty, that her girlfriend had proposed to her earlier so nothing could ruin her day, and a beautiful friendship had started.

  
But at the present time, all Betty could see was unfamiliar and unhappy faces, that were probably trying to find a way to spend their Thanksgiving. A day that was supposed to be spent with family and friends and not in a coffee shop, wearing an apron, taking orders and making coffee. Betty was furious and sad, but she tried to not think that -while she was working- her whole family was gathered in the Cooper house, eating dinner and having fun back in her little hometown, Riverdale.  
At least she was gonna visit them on Christmas.

  
After a while, with Ethel’s help (one of the friendliest baristas Betty had met), she felt like everything was under control so she let herself relax a bit and observe the people who were spending their time in there, getting lost in her thoughts. Suddenly, the sound of the bell that signalled the entrance of a new customer, brought her back to the reality. All of the other employees were at the back of the store, leaving her alone to serve the young man who had just entered the shop.

Betty’s attention was focused on the new person in front of her. He was dressed in a blue sweater, black jeans and black combat boots, with a leather jacker over his shoulders keeping him warm. His eyes were what instantly attracted Betty to him though. They were so clear and so blue that reminded her of the sky. She was basically staring at this point but she couldn’t bring herself to care when she had the most beautiful man she had ever seen right in front of her. Betty noticed his mouth moving and even though she was kinda disappointed, because she wanted to keep looking at him, the sound of his voice made her clench her thighs.

  
‘’Um, I’m sorry, could you please tell me where am I?’’ the man asked, clearly confused.

  
_Was he joking? Did he notice that her gaze was fixed on him intensively and he wanted to fool around?_

  
_Or he was involved in an accident and now has a concussion. That would make sense, that’s why he looked so confused._

  
_Oh my God, what would she do?_

  
‘’Do you need anything? Is there anyone you would like to contact with?’’ Betty said, as friendly and calmed as she could sound.

  
‘’No, no! My sister wouldn’t stop laughing if she found out that I’m useless enough to get lost during my first day in LA,’’ the stranger promptly explained before he continued. ‘’I’m sorry for bothering you, I can ask someone else,’’ he started saying, but Betty instatly put her hand on top of his (which was resting at the counter), stopping him from moving.

  
‘’No, it’s totally fine. Where do you have to go?’’

  
The man smiled at her and after a little research on his phone, he showed her a text message with his new address. After a quick read, Betty gasped and looked at him with an excited look.

  
‘’Wait, you have rented the apartment on the second floor?’’

  
‘’Yeah, how-''

  
‘’We're going to be neighbours. Small world, huh?’’ Betty exclaimed, not succeeding at hiding her joy.

  
“What?” 

  
“That’s where I live. A family moved out of their apartment about two months ago and I was informed that a young man is going to move in during the holidays but you came here earlier than we expected,” Betty explained.

  
The black haired man seemed to relax at her words, feeling more safe now that he had met someone from the same apartment building as him that could give him accurate directions to go there _(yeah, that’s definitely the reason he was looking at her with such happiness)_.

  
‘’You’re a lifesaver… Betty,’’ he expressed after a quick glance at her name tag. After a moment of silence, he cleared his throat and proceeded to introduce himself. “I’m Jughead, by the way. Jughead Jones,” he said with an adorable awkwardness noticeable in his voice. 

  
Betty grasped his hand and smiled at him, trying to make him feel as comfortable as he was a few seconds ago. “It’s nice to meet you, Jughead. You kinda know my name thanks to this thing,” she said after looking momentary at her “label” and continued “but I’m Betty Cooper and I hope I didn’t make your first interaction with a person from your new neighbourhood extremely uncomfortable.”

  
“No, don’t- don’t worry about it,”

  
Jughead blushed at that and Betty thought that she was the worst at social interactions.

  
“Actually, you aren’t the first person I met from around here,” he said after a while.

  
_Of course she wasn’t, why did she assume something like that?_

  
“A girl came up to me before I got in here and kinda, I don’t know, hit on me, I guess,” he said and shrugged.

  
_Of course someone would already hit on him. He was one of the most attractive men she had ever met, if not **the** most attractive._

  
“Well, get used to it. Handsome guys get flirted a lot in LA,” Betty explained and regretted it immediately. She couldn’t keep her mouth shut for once and she disgraced herself by this spontaneous habit.

  
Jughead brushed her comment off and she wasn’t more thankful in her life for being ignored than that day.

  
“Can I suggest something? I mean, only if it’s okay with you.” Jughead told her. She just nodded and let him continue. “Since I’ve failed in finding my new apartment building so far, could I- would it be okay if we went there together? I might sound creepy-”

  
“Let me stop you here, Jughead. I would love to walk you there if you don’t mind staying here for a couple of hours. My shift ends at 4pm,” Betty explained. He visibly relaxed at her kindness while Betty cursed herself for using the word “love”.

  
“That’s fine by me as long as you’ll be able to put up with my high appetite,”

  
Betty grinned at him, forgetting her loneliness for the first time today.

* * *

  
After two hours of work, Jughead, true to his word, was waiting patiently for Betty and proceeded to stand up as soon as she changed her clothes, putting on a green sweater and black overalls with her favourite black all-stars.

  
“Ready to go?” Betty asked, markedly happier than she was during her shift.

  
Jughead nodded, having noticed her different demeanour and after holding the door open for her, he followed Betty outside “Coffee Express” and decided to make small talk.

  
“So for how long have you been working here?” 

  
“Almost six months. My mother kept telling me that by the age of 22 I should have already found a job, so she kinda pushed me into it. She was right, even though I didn’t want to admit it,” she confessed. And it was true. Yes, working as a waitress wasn’t her ideal job, but having her own money was a huge satisfaction. “22,huh? I feel like an old man next to you,” he laughed after looking briefly towards her direction.

  
“How old are you, old man?” she joked, feeling relaxed around him.

  
“I’m 29, so very close to the big 30. My little sister makes fun of me all the time. I was thinking of making a deal with God like Joey did, but the results weren’t the ones expected,”

  
He made a Friends reference and she could feel herself falling in love with him immediately.

  
“Are you a fan of Friends?” she shouted, clearly enthusiastic about it.

  
He shot her an adorable look and started explaining. “I’m basically an in-real-life Chandler with Joey’s appetite,” 

“Interesting, I’ll keep that in mind. So I suppose that you have a good sense of humour like Chandler, right?”

“I was mainly referring to my awkwardness around women, but you could say that too,” he said. ‘’I assume that you are a die-hard fan judging from the way you squealed when you realised I’ve watched the show,’’ Jughead continued and even though Betty should have felt embarrassed, she didn’t. 

  
‘’I just think that it is a great comedy, the greatest comedy show ever. I find many similarities between me and the characters.’’

  
Jughead seemed to enjoy this conversation a lot and she was sure that this little obsession of hers would be a future joke between the two of them. 

  
_The future? When did this thought make its appearance? They had known each other for a few hours and she was already thinking about the future. It was decided. Betty Cooper was pitful._

  
‘’Hey, are you with me?’’ Jughead asked, looking extremely muddled.

  
Shit. She had zoomed out and straight-up ignored Jughead.

  
‘’I'm sorry, I was just trying to remember if I had left the oven on,’’ she lamely tried to excuse herself for her absent-mindness.  
If Jughead didn’t believe her stupid excuse, he didn’t say anything.

  
‘’Well, I hope you haven’t. Do you have any guests today?’’ 

  
And here’s the question she wouldn’t want to be asked. Spending Thanksgiving all alone was something Betty wasn’t proud of and it actually made her kinda sad. Jughead didn’t know anything about her home life though, so she didn’t blame him for the topic he approached.

  
‘’It’s just me today. My family is back in Riverdale, my hometown, but I couldn’t be there with them. How about you, Jughead?’’ Betty asked in an attempt to avoid his pity.

  
‘’Same. I usually spend Thanksgiving with my sister, but she’s away to college this year, so I just ate the food you made,’’ he smiled, something he seemed to do a lot. Betty was definitely thankful for that. 

  
She was about to respond, when suddenly she acknowledged her surroundings and realised they had reached their destination. ‘’We're here,’’ Betty declared, not managing to hide the disappointed from her voice.

  
She noticed Jughead looking at the structure with admiration, clearly not used to a 15 story building. 

  
‘’Fancy. I used to live in a trailer in Ohio, so excuse me if I look dumbfounded,’’ he muttered. She realised that he probably felt weird because of the way he reacted, which he shouldn’t. ‘’When I first got here, my best friend couldn’t stop laughing at me because I was staring at my apartment for minutes before I was able to form a proper word. It’s a huge city and the lifestyle is pretty different from a little town's one,’’ Betty commented.

  
‘’I'm glad you understand. Everything's just new for me, you know?’’

  
‘’Trust me, I do. Shall we?’’

  
Before he had a chance to answer, she interlocked their fingers and led him to the condominium. She didn’t know where that confidence came from, but touching him felt like a long-time habit she wasn’t willing to break. Deep down, she knew that he felt the same way and their story was just beginning.

* * *

  
“How the fuck do people wrap their presents?” Jughead wondered after his fifth attempt to wrap Jellybean’s gift, the latest Guns n’ Roses’ album. The wrapping paper was more than enough, and all he had to do was to wrap a fucking CD, but he sucked at it. The final results were hideous and he instantly regretted his decision to do this by himself.

  
It was Christmas Eve and he was supposed to meet his sister in a few hours. Today would be the first time he saw JB since he moved to LA, a decision he wouldn’t have made if it wasn’t for her. She was always supportive of him and encouraged him to chase his dream (publishing his soon-to-be-finished novel). According to his little sister, a new environment and meeting new people would help him find his long lost inspiration and make connections that will help him publish his book.  
Maybe she wasn’t entirely wrong. 

  
Inspiration hit him sooner that he expected and it was all thanks to a certain blonde-haired beauty. Betty Cooper was an angel in human form and no one could change his mind. She was helpful from the very first time, had the patience to show him around the city and spent some days with him at his apartment or hers. Jughead didn’t know what he had done in a previous life to deserve someone as good as Betty but he was thankful for their friendship.

  
(even though he wasn’t sure if a friendship was all he wanted)

  
And now, during an emergency situation, Betty was the only one who could actually aid him. All Jughead could do was to grab his phone, sent her a quick text and pray that she wouldn’t end up yelling at him for disturbing her on a daily basis.

  
_Is there any chance you're free rn, Betts?_

  
While he was waiting for her her answer, he took a look at last night's conversation. Betty had gone to a bar with her friends from work (other waitresses Jughead had met through the month since he was now a regular costumer of “Coffee Express”) and he was pretty sure she had gotten drunk.

  
**_What’s up, sleepyhead?_** , she had said.

  
_Everything's fine, are you having fun?_

  
She had replied almost immediately.

  
**_I would have more fun if you were here too, Juggie!_ **

  
Juggie. This was a new. 

  
_Come on, we have decided that I’m boring, I wouldn’t have stopped talking about Hemingway’s books if I was there, lol_   
_Well, I’d still have a good time ;)_

  
He could have asked her more questions or tried to elicit information about her opinion on him. But he wasn’t that type of guy. If Betty wanted to talk about how fun she found him, she would do it when she was sober enough to realise what she was saying. After he reminded her to drink a few glasses of water and take a cab or call him as soon as she wanted to leave, he let her enjoy the rest of the night and promised to talk to her tomorrow. She thanked him and sent her a ‘goodnight’ text when she got back home, but Jughead was worried she would get mad at him –if she read the messages they exchanged- for being so abrupt, but he knew that she was too kind to hold a grudge.

  
Before he had the time to get up and wash the dishes, since Betty hadn’t responded, his phone dinged, signalling a new text.

  
**_The most entertaining thing I could do is to watch “The Holiday”, so yes, I am free :)_ **

  
Without further ado, he invited her over, promising that he wouldn’t bother her for long. Within two minutes, there was a knock on his door (she knew that the sound of doorbells upset him, so they had agreed on avoiding ringing any bells) and Jughead was quick to open it and let her in. For once again she looked beautiful and the sleepy features on her face were more than lovable. But, wait-

  
“Did I wake you up? You- you returned late yesterday and I forgot to look at the clock before I texted you-”

  
“Juggie, breath,” she laughed, trying to comfort him as always. Juggie... There it was again. So, it wasn’t a drunken mistake she made last night.  
When she noticed that he wasn’t intending to say anything, she continued. “I woke up at 7am, my mom wanted to check on me and make sure I had packed my stuff. I’m telling you; this woman will make me crazy during the holidays,” she joked.

  
“Oh shit, right. You’re leaving tonight,” Jughead exclaimed, having forgotten about that detail. He felt guilty for asking for her help while she had her own preparations, but he didn’t have any other choice. “Listen, I kinda need your help,” he started, puppy eyes on full display. 

  
“Did you break another vase and cut yourself in an attempt to clean everything?” Betty wondered, a hint of amusement evident in her voice. 

  
God, he had never felt more embarrassed in his entire life than he had that day. He was clumsy, everyone around him was aware of that, but he hadn’t expected to create such a mess. He hadn’t known Betty for a long time when that incident happened, but she was the only person in the building that was friendly to him. 

  
“No, um, that’s not going to happen again- I hope. I just, I want you to help me wrap some of the presents I have over there,” he pointed at the kitchen table, where JB and his dad’s gifts from him were.

  
Betty looked at him with a slight smirk. “That’s what you wanted to tell me, Jug? It’s not even that bad, I thought you would want help with taking panoramic photos again-”

  
“Okay, enough teasing for today, Cooper.”

  
“Oh, but I like teasing you, Jones.”

  
There it was. The same flirting tone they have been using around each other for the past few days. He wasn’t sure if that meant anything for her, but it was everything to him. He would find himself being totally focused on her, ignoring the people around him (in a way that could be considered rude), his stomach was clenching when she would laugh at his jokes or when she flashed him his smile. His best friend back in Ohio claimed that Jughead was _“in looove”_ in that teasing tone of his and he couldn’t bring himself to deny it.

  
Lost in his own thoughts, Jughead didn’t realise that Betty was already on a mission, Jellybean’s CD was already wrapped with a beautiful ribbon on it. That girl was a magician or she had been practising the whole year at gift wrapping, while watching those 2-minute YouTube tutorials. 

  
“Wow, you’re fast,” he said after a few minutes of silence, observing her as she was making another package, this time wrapping his dad’s gift. “I’ve been doing this for... 6 minutes,” she said after checking the time on her phone. “It’s just three gifts, Jug.”

  
He smiled at her, not being able to hold it back. 

  
“What?” 

  
“Nothing, I just...I love how dedicated you are, Betts.” Her eyes shined when she looked at him, a pink tint at her cheeks, which made Jughead wanna confess how adorable he found her.

  
“Thank you, Juggie,” she whispered and returned to her task quickly, a look of determination overtaking her features again. 

  
_God, he was in love with her and he had to tell her soon._


	2. devotion

Holidays at the Cooper household were the same as always. _Yes_ , Betty loved her family but she couldn't lie about the current mood at her house: everyone pretended that they were thrilled to be there, when deep down they all knew that Alice and Hal Cooper couldn’t stand each other. Betty's parents had been arguing and fighting for years, but neither of them wanted to admit that a divorce would probably be the right choice. The only thing that kept Betty sane throughout family dinners and holidays was her sister and the twins, Juniper and Dagwood. Seeing their faces made her a little less stressed and never failed to remind her that she was grateful for the special bond her and Polly had since they were kids.

This year though, she had one more reason to smile a little brighter than usual. Her neighbour back from LA hadn’t stopped texting her, sending her many memes, asking her about her day and trying to help her forget the melancholy she was currently feeling. Betty knew that she was a little too attached to Jughead, in a way that probably made her pathetic. Her sister had noticed how she was basically staring at her phone's screen, waiting for it to ding and asked her about that newly discovered habit of hers. Polly was the second person who knew about that little crush she had, since she had already told Toni about it and even introduced her to Jughead.

* * *

It was New Year’s Eve and she was making sandwiches for her niece and nephew when her phone ringed.

_🎵 Santa baby, slip a Rolex under the tree for me 🎵_

Jughead’s named appeared on her smartphone’s screen and she instantly panicked. She was used to talk to him on a daily basis, but they never called each other.

Betty left the bread she was currently holding on the countertop and she grabbed her phone, taking a deep breath before answering.

“Hey, Juggie,” she told him.

 _“Betty, hi! How are you?_ ” he replied, the faint sound of Michael Bublé's voice not going unnoticed by her.

“You’re listening to _Christmas_? Oh my God, I thought you didn’t like that album,” she expressed, clearly surprised. She heard him sighing and he instantly turned down the volume of the song he was listening to.

 _“You were right, okay? He has a nice voice,”_ Jughead admitted with a little shame after he had been caught.

“Well, I’m always right, aren’t I? Anyways, where are you? I thought you were spending the holidays with Jellybean.”

 _“Yeah, about that... She was invited to a New Year’s party by that girl she has a crush on and I encouraged her to go. I drove her to California and now I’m going back to LA,”_ he explained, obviously not thrilled with that turn of events. Betty didn’t want him to spend the whole day alone, he didn’t deserve to be by himself tonight.

After a momentary look at the clock on the kitchen’s wall, she came up with an idea. “I don’t know if you’re interested, Jug, but my best friend is throwing a party tonight and you are more than welcome to come. You might have to catch a plane, but you will make it on time since it’s only 12:15pm-”

He cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable with her suggestion, but before she had the chance to say anything else, he interrupted her. _“Betts, I don’t wanna ruin the mood of the day, your friends wouldn’t want someone like me to join the party.”_

And that’s when it hit her. He did desire to spend the New Year’s with her but he was afraid that her friends wouldn’t like him. His insecurities overtook him for once again and he wasn’t thinking logically. “Are you serious, Jug? You won’t ruin anything. Veronica is actually pretty excited to meet you-”

 _“You’ve been talking about me, Coop?”_ he questioned, accompanied with a smirk that was evident in his voice.

“As if you don’t, Jones,” she replied, that usual flirting banter making its way into their serious conversation. She heard him laughing, mostly to himself and muttering a hushed _“touché”_ and he proceeded to continue talking about their previous topic.

 _“What time does the party start?”_ Before she could help herself, she yelled a “ ** _yeees_** ” _(and instantly regretted it because; 1. she seemed pathetic for one more time and 2. Jughead probably thought that she was incredibly desperate)._

“Around 11pm at Pembrooke. If you get here earlier, call me to come and pick you up and if you can’t find Pembrooke with Google Maps, text me and I’ll give you directions. Even though it’s impossible to not find it, it’s basically the most emblematic building here in Riverdale and-” _Oh God, she was rambling again._

 _“I’ll call you as soon as I arrive, okay?”_ he told her and she could swear that she heard the smile in his voice.

“Okay. I’m happy that you’ll be here and I’m sure my friends will adore you just like I did,” she murmured. And she truly believed every word she had said, Jughead was easily likeable by everyone who got to meet him.

 _“Thank you, Betts. Thanks for everything,”_ he sincerely admitted. _“I gotta go now, but I’ll see you soon, okay?”_

“Yeah, later, Juggie,” she said and with that she ended the call. Not being aware of her surroundings, she started jumping up and down, markedly excited at the prospect of getting closer to Jughead tonight. She was in such a good mood that she decided to bake her favourite Christmas cookies to please her relatives (and _perhaps_ Jughead too).

“Did you win the lottery, kid?” an unamused Hal Cooper asked, scaring Betty to death.

“Oh my God, dad. Don’t sneak up on people like this ever again,” she responded, touching her chest in a way to feel her heart, which -she was pretty sure- should have stopped by now.

“Why are you so happy? Did you inherit any money?” he wondered again.

“Something even better, dad. Something even better”

* * *

**10:47pm**

He was pretty sure that his watch was mocking him at this point. He had just got off the taxi that drove him to _“the town with pep”_ (he had made a mental note to tease Betty for that cheesy name later) and his phone had run out of battery at 10:30pm, right after he sent a quick text to his sister, wishing her to have a great time.

All he could do was ask around and hope that someone would help him get to Pembrooke on time. He was walking on Riverdale’s quiet streets for many minutes, wishing he would bump into someone, anyone who would be willing to lead him to the damn party. If it weren’t for Betty, he would have given up by now, but he didn’t want to disappoint her or miss the smile on her face when she would see him at Veronica’s party.

He was relieved when he spotted a phone booth by the end of the street and he was ready to call Betty _(yes, he had memorised her phone number)_ when a sweating-red-haired boy walked into him.

“Watch out, dude,” Jughead yelled, annoyed by the incident. The guy looked at him, regret evident on his face. “I’m sorry, man. I’m just late to my girlfriend’s party and she’s gonna kill me if I don’t go there during the next five minutes,” he explained.

Taking a second look, Jughead noticed how messy that guy’s appearance was. His red hair was ruffled, one of his socks was over his pants and he hadn’t tied his tie. He instantly felt sorry for him and he repented for the way he talked to him. “It’s okay, I shouldn't have yelled at you. I’m just supposed to be at a party as well and I don’t know where I’m going,” he explained.

“Where are you heading to?”

“Pembrooke, Veronica-”

“Veronica Lodge’s party? Dude, are you friends with Betty?” the man exclaimed.

“Yeah, do you know her?”

“I’m Archie, her childhood best friend. I don’t know if she has mentioned me-”

“Jughead, nice to meet you,” he greeted him while giving him a handshake. “Of course she has. She always shares her favourite memories from her high school days with me. She doesn’t stop talking about you and Veronica,” Jughead continued, visibly relaxing now that he had already met someone from Betty’s group of friends.

“She talks about you a lot too and she was delightful when you told her you were coming tonight,” he mentioned while gesturing towards the street, indicating that they should get going. “Cigarette?” Jughead accepted the offer and started asking Archie questions about his friendship with Betty.

A little while later, when they were close to Pembrooke, Archie turned to him and patted his back. “I’m happy Betty has you,” he acknowledged. Before Jughead had a chance to reply, they were walking inside the building, which left him speechless. The lobby alone smelt _rich_ and he suddenly felt totally out of place. Yes, he was dressed in his best formal clothes, a black turtleneck with a same-coloured blazer and black pants (Betty would appreciate the effort), but by looking the other attenders he was definitely underdressed.

Archie led them to one of the many elevators that they were there and he hit the 6th floor button. The first thing he noticed when they stepped out of the elevator was that the party was taking place at the rooftop, which was decorated with many colourful lights and four Christmas trees were at every side of the space.

_Veronica was extra._

The second thing he noticed was the beautiful blonde who was currently facing her best friend, the infamous Veronica Lodge. After a quick glance to his left side, he realised that Archie wasn’t there anymore and he had rushed towards his girlfriend.

Betty hadn’t become aware of his appearance until Archie pointed at him and he was sure that he would never forget the look on her face when she noticed him.

_This was all worth it._

She practically run to reach him as fast as she could and she hugged him with such tenderness that he thought he might cry right there.

“I’m so glad you are here, Juggie,” she whispered, barely being able to concentrate in her words when the scent of her -strawberries and vanilla- almost hypnotized him.

“Me too, Betts,” he said. He was about to make a comment about the place they were at and the richness of it, when he took a better look of her. _God, she was breath-taking._ She was wearing a pink silk dress and her hair was up on a diligently messy bun and she had never looked more ethereal. “You look beautiful,” he managed to say, having forgotten how to form a proper sentence.

Betty blushed and returned the compliment with a brief kiss on his cheek. Jughead smiled at that adorable gesture and held her gaze, trying to find the courage to admit his feelings to her. “Betty, listen-”

He was rudely interrupted by the presence of a guy around Betty’s age who had grabbed her by the waist and shouted a little too personal “Coop!” for his liking, before he realised that she wasn’t alone.

“Reggie, hi!” she said, sounding excited about seeing _Reggie_. He didn’t know that guy but he wanted to punch him for distracting Betty.

_Calm down, Jughead, don’t act like a jealous bastard._

“It’s nice to see you here, especially after your relocation to Los Angeles. You have gotten even more gorgeous, if that’s even possible,” he continued, completely ignoring that Jughead was standing right there.

“Thanks, Reg,” she said and turned towards Jughead. “Here’s Jughead Jones, we are neighbours back in LA.” Reggie politely shook Jughead’s hand and introduced himself as well. They made small talk for a while, even though Jughead wished that this jock would leave him and Betty alone, when suddenly the latter (probably sensing his discomfort) excused themselves and dragged Jughead to a quieter corner.

“I’m sorry for him, he is not a bad guy, but he’s a little lightheaded and cannot understand when he’s supposed to stop,” she admitted, feeling slightly guilty for making him uncomfortable.

“There’s no need to apologise, Betts. You can’t control someone’s feelings,” Jughead declared.

“What? Me and Reggie-” she wasn’t even able to finish her sentence before she started laughing and he honestly couldn’t bring himself to care about her finding his comment silly when she seemed so carefree.

“Come on, don’t deny it. He looked at you-”

“He’s married to Sabrina Spellman, one of my oldest friends. Geez, Jughead, I’m going to die from all this laughter,” she revealed, while weeping her tears of joy.

**_“10”_ **

_Oh shit, it was almost 12am and he didn’t tell her anything he had planned to say._

_**“9”** _

She looked expectedly at him and interlocked their fingers just like the first day they had met.

**_“8”_ **

“Won’t you join the countdown, Juggie?” she asked. He just nodded and proceed to do so.

 ** _“7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1,”_ **before he had the chance to wish her a Happy New Year, he was at a standstill by the feeling of her lips. Betty Cooper was kissing him. He wasn’t even sure if he was alive at that point or if he had died and went to heaven. Her lips were soft, just like he had imagined them and the taste of them was so sweet, making him believe she was indeed an angel. Betty deepened the kiss quickly, not caring about the PDA show they were pulling. After a few seconds, she slowly pulled back and looked at him with the most adorable expression.

“Have you set a goal for the new year, Juggie?” she asked.

“I had one in mind but I already achieved it.”

“And what was it?”

“To make you mine,” he softly admitted before he leaned in to kiss her again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is it, guys! I really hope you liked this little story and 
> 
> your comments mean a lot to me!♡
> 
> you can find me on tumblr: @bugheadsheaven
> 
> happy new year, I wish you all the best (but above all health and happiness)

**Author's Note:**

> can these two date already?  
> thank you for reading, lovelies! I'll post the next chapter tomorrow or the day after!  
> I hope the rest of your holidays are great, see you soon <3


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